


Never Eat Red Snow

by bespectacledmermaid



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, New York City, Snow, Team as Family, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29219718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bespectacledmermaid/pseuds/bespectacledmermaid
Summary: A grisly triple murder hits close to the team at the New York crime lab during a bitter mid-winter storm. Family is everything to Detective Don Flack, but is his sister a victim or a suspect?Mostly Flack, Mac, Danny and OC, though the whole team is featured.
Relationships: Danny Messer/Original Female Character(s)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slight edit of a fic I wrote several years ago and uploaded to other fan fiction sites. I completely removed some scenes and changed dialogue that felt clunky or OOC. Fundamentally, its the same story, I just wanted to try improve on it. Thanks for reading.

It was January in New York. What had been promised as a light dusting had turned to a snowstorm overnight. The city trudged on however, under a thick blanket of snow. The Christmas period was definitely over and everyone in the NYPD Crime Lab were well and truly back to working hard.

Inside, away from the elements, two women stood in an elevator. One of them gave a quite sigh.  
"What's up Aiden?" the other asked, pulling her tight curls back in one sweep over the top of her head. Aiden shook her head and smiled a bitter smile.  
"I just can't get over court yesterday, I mean Sanchez still denies burning down his brother's store despite us having all that evidence pointing to him. I hope he goes down for a long time." She folded her arms and leaned her hip against the rail. Just then they arrived at their floor and with a ding the doors slid open.  
"Ah Stella! Just the woman I was looking for." A man stood in a dark grey suit with a cheery smile on his face and his arms spread. His name was Don Flack. He had a pen in this left hand as usual. It seemed to be there permanently and Aiden smiled to herself, imagining he may have even glued it there just to make sure. "Morning to you too Aiden." Flack continued. "Good news for you both. The Sanchez jury were called to court early this morning because they came to a decision last night." Stella glanced at Aiden and then back to Flack.  
"And...?"  
"Oh, and they found him guilty as charged."  
"YES!" cried Aiden, grasping onto the man’s lower arm. "You are good for something Flack! And here I was thinking your only talent was salting the sidewalk outside the building." Flack glared at Aiden as she headed off down the corridor, a spring in he step and a grin on her face.  
"Hey, if I hadn't have done it no one would have and you puny CSIs would have been slippin' all over the street!"  
  
Danny Messer glanced at his stainless steel watch. It read almost ten to nine. He knew he should have gotten on the earlier train but he just didn't want to get out of his nice warm bed, where he was snuggled next to his nice warm dog. Then the shower was too hot and steamy for him to want to get out onto the cold tiled floor. The thought of having to get on the subway yet again and have to get to the office through the snow was all too much as he sipped at a hot cup of coffee. Danny snapped back to reality as the train doors on front of him flew apart and he realised he was at his stop. Climbing the stairs up onto the street he was greeted by a light but rather cold breeze. Danny hitched his collar up higher and weaved briskly in and out of his fellow pedestrians.  
  
Two blocks away and 35 floors up, Mac Taylor had just sat down at his desk to read the latest issue of Forensics Monthly. He hadn't been required to attend any crime scenes since he got in at 8-am. Not yet anyway. It was still rather early in the morning. But so far it seemed it had been a fairly quiet night, for New York at least. He glanced over the top of an article about the latest advancements in DNA extraction to see a jubilant looking Aiden waving at him through the front glass wall of his office. Not far behind was Stella, rolling her eyes with a smile as she made eye contact with Mac.  
"What are you so happy about?" Mac asked as Aiden opened his door. She grinned at his bemused look.  
"Not only is Michael Sanchez going to jail for quite a while, its started snowing again!"  
  
The snowfall had become a blizzard by the time dispatch paged Mac with their first case of the day. A Wall Street worker had been found dead in Central Park with no obvious cause of death, his thick wallet still on him.  
"Aiden, me and you on this one." he said standing in the doorway of the break room. Danny had arrived finally and sat on a sofa pouring over paperwork.  
"Good I got this to finish, I'll hang out with Stella and we can take the next one." Danny said as Stella smiled over her mug at him. Aiden was on her feet almost in an instant. She liked being Danny's unofficial partner but working with Mac was great. She loved observing him work and she always learned something new on cases with him.  
"See you guys later then." she said as Mac led the way out.  
  
It wasn't long before Stella reappeared in the break room. She pulled her coat on as she put her kit case on the floor.  
"Don't tell me we got somethin'?" Danny gave a sigh and thumped his empty mug down on the work surface next to the coffee machine. Stella gave him a sympathetic smile. Another break ruined before it could even start. But that was just the way their job was and Danny headed to collect his own kit.  
"Sounds like a messy one this time." Stella muttered as they stood in the lift. "3 young women murdered in their apartment. Flack is on his way there to take over from patrol." Danny pushed his glasses up his nose a little and heaved a sigh. There was no getting used to hearing that the lives of young people had been taken, but for the most part he had learned to switch off and leave his emotions at home. The two CSIs soon reached the parking lot under the building and were on their way to the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

The snow was already several more inches deep as Stella and Danny stepped out onto the street in front of the old industrial structure that was now filled with apartments. It was part of a complex for NYU and was used solely for accommodating students. They quickly approached the entrance that was flanked by two uniformed officers. Before he reached the stairs, Danny paused to swab and snap a photo of a few blood drops he spotted in the snow.  
"Morning Gerry. Any idea who called it in?" asked Stella. The shorter man of the two smiled at Stella.  
"One of the other students, Billy Petersen. Said he heard a scream, went to check on the girls and no one answered the door. A while later he heard the door slamming and he went to look again. When he spotted blood on the door handle he called 911." The other man lifted the all too familiar yellow tape to allow Stella and Danny into the stairwell.  
"Got this whole place sealed. Keeping the other kids in their rooms 'til we sort this out. Its the top floor." Gerry added.  
Danny gave a small nod in thanks and they climbed to the 4th floor. However before Stella made it she spotted what looked like fresh blood smeared on the wall.  
"I'll collect this, you go on ahead, find Flack." Danny did as he was asked. He found Flack straight away. But instead of being his usual cocky self, questioning neighbours in a cheeky manner or hitting Danny with some insult, he had his arm and head against the wall and seemed uneasy on his feet.  
"Yo, Flack, what's goin' on?" Danny asked. Flack turned his head. There were tears shining in his eyes and his face was a nasty shade of off white. His expression crumpled as he noticed Danny staring at him with an extremely worried and confused look on his face.  
"Dude...what the hell is wrong?" he questioned. Danny couldn’t possibly imagine what was making Flack look so ill. He’d been to plenty of brutal crime scenes and witness all kinds of gruesome deaths.  
"Danny...this is...oh god...this.." Flack could barely speak. He swallowed hard a few times, desperately holding back tears. "This is my sister's apartment." Danny felt his stomach drop. The Flack’s were like family to him.  
"Aw man, jeez...I don't know what to say." Danny reached out and put a hand on Flack's shoulder. He closed his eyes and clasped onto Danny's hand.  
"My baby sister Danny, she's in there..."  
"She's the, uh..." Danny almost said 'hot one' as a reflex. He had met Ellie a few years back and they had become friends, but he liked to on occasion make jokes that earned him stern looks from Flack. She was the youngest sibling of four, the only girl. "...she's really in there?"  
Flack nodded. He seemed to almost pitch forward and Danny caught him in his arms.  
"C'mere big guy." Danny murmured and pulled him into a hug. He could hear Flack sniffing as he clung onto him tightly. After a few moments in Danny's comforting embrace, Flack moved away slowly and gave a cough. "Sorry." he said.  
"You got nothing to apologise for. Listen, pal. I gotta get in there, we need to get the evidence while its fresh."  
Flack wiped off his cheeks and raised his eyes to Danny. "You take good care of her okay?"  
"Sure, I promise."  
  
As Danny stepped through the front door of the apartment he had the incredible urge to drop everything and go back to Flack. He could only presume he saw the carnage in the living room and couldn't go on. He pulled on his rubber gloves and took out his camera. There was a medical examiner crouched over a slender blonde girl who was barely clothed. She was lying in a puddle of her own blood and her eyes were open wide, staring towards her friend, who had been left hanging over the edge of the sofa. She seemed rather over dressed compared to the other girl wearing a hoodie over dark jeans, a scarf and a hat.  
"Am I okay to start processing?" Danny asked. The young man looked up at him with a sad and resigned look.  
"I've finished with the bathroom. There's another girl in there, I'm not sure of an initial COD so I'm just waiting on the guys with the gurney." Danny swallowed hard. Neither of these young women were Ellie and he wasn't looking forward to collecting evidence around someone he knew. He practically crept to the open bathroom door. His gaze fell on the bath. Naked with water barely up to her waist was Ellie. Ellie Flack had become someone Danny cared for and he pushed own sorrow down as he took in the scene in front of him. There was a towel clamped in her right hand that was resting on her chest. Danny thought she possibly grabbed it in a struggle to cover herself. She had done not a half bad job as most of her torso was hidden under the sodden pink towel. Her other hand was draped across her stomach and her head was lolled to her left. He gave a sigh only to jump suddenly at hearing Stella's voice. She was at his shoulder.  
"I saw Don, he's not in a good way. I told him to get out of here. I think he's still hanging around though."  
"Do you mind if I deal with this room, its just Flack asked me..."  
"Of course it is. I'll get on with the living room." Stella replied with a gentle squeeze to Danny's arm.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Danny slowly made his way to the bath. The cold wind was blasting in the open window so he closed it over. He snapped one photo before pulling the towel just a little further down the top of Ellie's legs. He he was worried it was the two newbies who were coming to collect the bodies - hence why they were late - and he didn't want them gawking at her. Ellie's long, black hair was still damp for the most part and he thought she must have been in that position for a short time. He reached across to have a better look at bruising on her upper arm. As soon as his warm hands came into contact with her icy skin, what seemed a breath rattled through her body. Danny jumped a little. He had heard of bodies releasing air after death, but instantly realised this was different as she raised her hand and grabbed onto his light blue shirt. Everything seemed to move in slow motion and Danny's reactions completely left him.  
"Where's...Donnie?" Ellie lost her grip and her hand splashed back into the shallow water.  
"I'll get him, I'll get your brother for you!" Danny jumped to his feet shouting for Flack, Stella, anybody to get him an ambulance as he grabbed for his coat. "Stella, we got a live one!" he added as she questioned what all the shouting was about. Stella flipped open her phone and called for rescue before glaring at the now very sheepish looking medical examiner.  
  
Back in the bathroom, Danny had pulled Ellie out of the bath and onto the floor. He had wrapped her in the dry towel he had found on the floor and was pulling his coat round her as Stella appeared at the door.  
"You have to find Don, he always looks after me..." Ellie mumbled as she saw Stella.  
"I know he does honey, but this is Danny he'll do just as a good a job. You're in safe hands, I promise." Danny had Ellie propped up against his chest and was rubbing down her arms, trying to generate heat.  
"Messer?" A tiny smile made its way to Ellie's rather blue looking lips. "Well that’s a nice…" but her head lurched forward before she could finish her sentence.  
"Stell, what the hell is keeping rescue? She keeps slipping in and out of consciousness."  
Right on cue, Stella's phone rang. She hung up with a stern look.  
"Pile up because of the snow has blocked the road into here from the station. It's gonna take a while."  
Danny looked up at Stella before gazing down at Ellie again.  
"I don't think she has a while, I'm taking her in the car. I can get to the hospital from the opposite end the ambulance will be coming."  
Stella was worried about the scene but held back. Danny read her mind as he picked Ellie off the floor.  
"As soon as I drop her off, I'll call Flack and I'll be right back."  
"No need to hurry, I'll take over for the time being." Stella spun on her heels to see Sheldon Hawkes, forensic kit in hand. He was one of the head pathologists at the crime lab, but had recently changed over to work in the field. Behind him stood the two medical porters, who had finally arrived.  
"All right Hawkes. Perfect timing!" Danny grinned. He enlisted the help of one of the porters to help with doors in the building and on his car. "Okay, let's get her outta here."  
  
Having called ahead to the hospital, Danny found two nurses waiting with a stretcher outside the E.R.  
"She's most likely hypothermic but as well as that she was unconscious for unknown reasons." he said as he placed Ellie gently onto the white sheets.  
"Hold up there!" Danny heard from behind him. Mac Taylor was jogging towards them as best he could in the snow. "I want you to treat this almost as an autopsy because she can't tell us what happened just yet. I need blood for a tox report, sexual assault kit and all injuries photographed and logged as well as any trace evidence. Detective Messer here will help you with all of that." Mac turned to Danny. "Have you managed to get in contact with Flack yet?" Danny shook his head. "Okay, I'll call him, you get in there with Ellie"  
"Mac, thanks for letting me do this - Flack wanted me to look after her."   
Mac smiled a little. "Yeah, I guessed that..." He clapped a hand to Danny's shoulder. "Now make sure she's okay and get back to the lab ASAP.”  
  
2 hours or so later and Hawkes and Stella were back at the crime lab. The bodies had been sent to autopsy and the two CSIs were getting to work on piecing possible events and explanations together.  
"Okay, the place was pretty ransacked, possible robbery?" Hawkes was scanning over photographs of the apartment.  
"Maybe, but why go to the top floor, less foot traffic, I guess but surely a getaway would be easier from one of the lower floors?" Stella suggested. Hawkes was reading through a residency list that had just been sent over from the university. A few moments later he slid his black glasses onto the top of his head.  
"Perhaps because all the other apartments have at least one male living in them. If the perp knew it was all girls, they would be an easier target."  
"Nice, maybe one of the girls fought back and he sorted them out." Stella looked off out the window. "I just don't understand what happened to Ellie. She was unconscious in the bath with no obvious external injuries."  
Hawkes shrugged. "I'll stick with the robbery theory for the moment and we'll see how Ellie fits in when Danny gets back from the hospital."


	3. Chapter 3

Mac Taylor was becoming restless. Don Flack was unreachable and Mac could only presume he still didn't know about his sister and had retreated somewhere to deal with the loss. A sharp tap on his glass office door made him almost spring out of his chair. Danny Messer stood with a pile of evidence envelopes, he knew they must have come from the hospital. He got up immediately and followed Danny into one of the labs.  
"Adam's made up that you put him on that case with Aiden. Since they seem to have it under control, I thought you might want to be in on this. We got a fair whack, I left the sexual assault kit and blood samples in DNA and toxicology while we get on with the rest of it." Danny laid the brown envelopes across the light-box work surface and proceeded to plug his phone into the computer to show Mac the photos he took.  
Mac watched the photos pop up on the monitors that were mounted on the wall. Ellie's body was displayed from various angles for them both to inspect.  
"After they stablised her, the two nurses and I checked her over thoroughly. I was betting on a head injury but there was no physical evidence, even when I got the old UV light out. I also UV'd the bruising on her arm, that brought out this rather interesting pattern."  
"Fingers." Mac said, plainly.  
"Yep, someone grabbed her left arm with a firm grip. I couldn't find any prints, but it looks like a fairly small hand - most likely a woman's." Danny added and began to list other things he had found. Traces of a white substance on her other arm, it had been sent to Trace for testing. Blood under her finger nails - possibly from her attacker - it was also in DNA along with samples of a bloody smudge on her face.  
"Other than the hypothermia, she seems to be in perfect health. We just need to wait for Tox to tell us if their was anything in her system that could have led to her passing out or whether she somehow just fell asleep in the bath"  
  
There was a bit of a back up in the labs and all four of the CSIs on the girls' case were having to wait longer than usual.  
"Night shift had a violent bank robbery, so you can imagine the evidence they've had to deal with and left behind for the lab techs this morning. I can't even get in to use the equipment myself and I run this lab." Mac had just about managed a smile as he explained to Stella, Danny and Hawkes why the processing was taking so long. "I'm going for a break, I think we all might as well get one in since there's not much to do at the moment."  
Stella nodded and followed Mac down to the break room. Hawkes told Danny he was going out to meet a friend for lunch and invited him, but he wanted to keep studying the photos that Hawkes had just printed. However a few minutes later he had looked round most of them for the 3rd or 4th time and just couldn't see anything new. He gave a frustrated growl and decided a cup of coffee was in order. He jogged down the hall to catch the elevator to the floor below.  
As he stepped out, Danny heard sniggering from up ahead. He looked up to see the two young pathology porters with one of the lab assistants. He gave a smirk as he noticed the one who had joined him at the hospital gesturing what he could only assume were big breasts. As he wandered down the hallway to the break room he caught a tiny bit of their conversation.  
"Brendan, there's no way Flack's sister is a looker, I mean he's no oil painting!" the lab tech said.  
Danny stopped dead to listen. They were doing exactly what he tried to prevent them from doing.  
"I'm telling you, she most definitely is. Her legs ain't the skinniest but I got the smallest look of her ass when Messer put her down on that gurney and let me tell you it was..."  
"It was WHAT? Go on asshole, share with the class!" Danny was right in Brendan's face, his own displaying fury.  
"Don't tell me you never noticed man." Brendan laughed though his nose, though it was clear he was uneasy with Danny being so aggressive.  
"No because unlike you I was doing my job with a bit of professionalism!" Quite a crowd had started to form. Groups of people had stopped their conversations or work and were peering from the office doors, including Mac who stood in the doorway Danny had been heading for.  
"Hey, take it easy, man. Chill-ax" the other porter mumbled.  
" _He did not just say 'chill-ax'?_ " Danny said to himself.  
"Professionalism? You know the chick, how can you treat her professionally?" Brendan was beginning to get defensive. But he instantly realised he should have kept his big mouth shut as Danny grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him against the glass wall. Straight away Mac was striding quickly down the corridor.  
"At least I'm not a disgusting little creep! She was inches from death n all you can think about is your dick!" Before the words were barely out of Danny's mouth Mac had a firm grip of the top of his his arms and was pulling him away from the now terrified trainee.  
"Stop it." he said through gritted teeth. "You three, get lost. I’ll deal with you later." he added and the three youngsters scarpered.  
"You pricks don't got any respect for the dead, how 'bout you go learn some for the living!"  
"Danny, shut up. Why did you rise to those kids? You know what they're like." Mac said as he turned Danny round. He was looking at his feet as he had just noticed the audience his little outburst had attracted.  
"I just...felt like I had to protect her, Mac." Danny gave a sigh. Mac placed a sympathetic hand on Danny's shoulder.  
"Maybe they were right, you are a little too close to this case. You did say you and Ellie were friends." Danny knew exactly what Mac was going to say.  
"Please don't put me off the case, I promised Flack and I just gotta find out who did this to Ellie and her room mates."  
"You're off the case, not totally" Mac added as Danny went to cut him off. "You worked late last night and this morning has been trying for us all. Go home and...chill-ax, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow." Danny made to protest once again, but Mac held up a hand and raised his eyebrows.  
"Okay, you'll call me the second you hear a thing about Ellie or Don?"  
"Sure."  
  
Danny threw open his locker and threw in the things he wouldn't need. He grabbed his wallet and house keys before turning to the coat rack. As he reached for his grey duffle style coat his hand came to rest on the collar. There was a long, dark brown hair draped across it and he stared at it, almost transfixed.  
  
 _"You got good style, Messer." Ellie said with a wink. "Very rarely do_ _I_ _find a guy who can actually dress himself." She tossed another shot down her throat.  
Danny grinned. He thought it was quite a comment coming from a clothes expert.  
"And its also very rare to find a girl who drinks the way you do __despite being asked not to by her kinda scary brother_ _." he replied, taking a swig of his beer from the bottle. She glanced over her black framed glasses at him. Her green eyes sparkled like the stones that were set along the top of them.  
"I'm taking that as a compliment, besides, its old aunt Giovanna's 700th birthday. And my family don't exactly throw the most swinging parties." Ellie gazed round the room. "So I've developed a skill of getting wasted and practically passing out in a corner - unnoticed by the way - with some leftover cake."  
Danny laughed and shook his head.  
"Except this time, it looks like a might have a drinking buddy. Care to join me in giggling at nothing in particular? Its not so much fun alone." Ellie held out a sherry glass filled with an acid green liquid. Danny considered for a moment. Flack would most likely kill him, __b_ _ut Ellie's smile got the better of him and he took the glass from her. She gave a triumphant laugh before calling out: "Bottoms up!"_  
  
"Danny you okay?"  
"Huh?" Danny gave a jolt. Hawkes had appeared at his side and stood looking at him.  
"You've been staring at that coat for a while..."  
"Uh, no. I'm fine." Hawkes studied his expression carefully, Danny wasn't one for opening up, but his face always conveyed what he felt. He knew this case was bothering him and for once his emotions were getting in the way.  
"Look, Mac told me what happened. Since I know you want to be involved, I'll text you if we find anything interesting in the autopsy results. I'm going to see Sid just now." Sid was the chief medical examiner with the crime lab and was performing the two autopsies on Ellie's room mates.  
"That would be great, man." Danny thanked Hawkes with a pat to his upper arm and was soon on his way home.


	4. Chapter 4

It was early evening before Mac Taylor and his team started to get results from the various labs. Whilst they had been waiting they had either been helping with the bank robbery to speed things up or catching up on paper work. No one was more thankful than Hawkes. He could just imagine Danny becoming extremely impatient at no news. Mind you he had tried calling him after the autopsies, but he couldn't get an answer. Hawkes presumed he must have been resting up.  
"Okay, what we got?" he asked as Mac handed him a small pile of paper. A detailed tox report was on the top and he took the sheets off before passing he papers onto Stella. She looked over the other reports.  
"Tox revealed diazepam and..." Hawkes paused. That couldn't be right.  
"Gamma Hydroxybutyrate aka GHB." Mac finished for him.  
"So their attacker drugged Ellie with a date rape drug, but not her friends. Was she perhaps a special target?"  
Stella interjected with her own question. "Why though? This DNA report says that there was no foreign bloody fluids present to suggest rape and the nurses confirmed that there was no sign of any recent sexual activity, at least not forced. This doesn't make any sense."  
A few moments of silence passed before Mac read from a sheet he still had. The white powder had turned out to be heroin.  
"Danny didn't detail any features that may have shown drug abuse in this report from the hospital." he turned to Hawkes.  
"Can you get him on the phone while I try chase up these blood results?"  
"Sure I'll clue him in on the rest of the evidence so far, see if he can't come up with any theories."  
  
Hawkes found an empty layout room and dialled Danny's home number. It rang four or five times before it was picked up. Danny's voice sounded husky on the other end.  
"Did I wake you?" Hawkes asked.  
"Nah, its uh..." Danny gave a sniff. "...its fine. I guess you got something for me about the case?"  
"Yeah, I got lots. We just don't know how to piece it together yet."  
Ellie's blonde friend, Crystal, had been stabbed six times in the chest. She bled out very quickly. Frankie, the other roommate, suffered a head trauma. Most likely when she hit her head on the coffee table where they found her blood and a few strands of hair. She had also been badly beaten; her face bruised and swollen. Neither girls had been sexually assaulted and tox showed that Frankie had been smoking marijuana sometime in the 24 hours before her death. There was also some alcohol in her system.  
Danny sighed. "Anything else?"  
"Still waiting on blood swabs to come back, but that white substance you found on Ellie's arm was heroin."  
"She's not a junkie." he replied indignantly. Hawkes was taken a little by surprise by Danny's response but pressed on anyway.  
"Well that’s also why I called you. You didn't notice anything that would indicate that she had been taking heroin, right?"  
"No, nothing. No puncture wounds in the obvious places. Surely her tox came back negative?"  
"Not entirely negative..."  
Danny sat more upright in his seat. "What do you mean 'not entirely'?"  
Hawkes explained about the other drugs found in her system and how they didn't have an explanation so far. But before Hawkes could put any ideas to Danny, he spotted a familiar figure race by the door.  
"Danny, I gotta go. I think Flack's here."  
  
Sure enough, as Hawkes made for the break room he found Flack with Stella and Mac.  
"We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours Don." Stella said.  
"Have you been to the hospital yet?"  
Flack glanced round at Hawkes. "Why would I go there?" His face was blotched red and his eyelashes had been stuck together by his tears.  
Mac leant closer to his colleague. "Didn't you get our messages? Don, your sister...is alive."  
Flack stared blankly at Mac for a few seconds, as if disbelieving him. It couldn't be possible. The ME pronounced them all dead at the scene.  
"He made a mistake." Mac said. "Ellie's body had started to shut down, her limbs came close to frost bite. Her heart rate would have slowed considerably to conserve the oxygen in her blood. Even someone as experienced as Sheldon here could have thought she was dead if they had checked her over quickly. Especially seeing what the rest of the apartment looked like."  
Flack seemed to finally give into exhaustion, as he slumped forward onto the desk in front of him. He was sobbing quietly into his hands and Stella wrapped an arm around him. Before Flack could say another word, Mac was pulling his coat on and had dug his car keys out of his pocket.  
"Come on, I'm taking you to see your sister."


	5. Chapter 5

As Danny arrived early in the crime lab the next morning, he was unaware that everyone else had been sent home because of the overload of work that the techs had to deal with. When he couldn't find anyone from his team, he went into Mac's office to see if there was anything new linking to the case. He had no such luck and decided to go wait for Mac, Stella and Hawkes in the layout room.  
  
In Trinity General Hospital, Don Flack was slouched in an arm chair outside his sister's room. Her immune system had been monitored overnight and he wasn't allowed in just in case she was more vulnerable than she seemed. He had finally fallen asleep a couple of hours ago after trying to stay up to wait on his parents flying in from Fort Lauderdale. He wasn't even woken by the nurse going in to check up on Ellie and only came to when the nurse gently tapped him on the shoulder. He bolted upright.  
"Oh, sir. You can go in now, she just woke up."  
Flack was on his feet in an instant and rushed to Ellie's side. There was a moment of silent staring between them before Ellie reached out and Don bent over her bed and enclosed her in his arms.  
"They told me you were gone." he breathed. They stayed in their embrace for a few moments before Don sat down on the chair beside her bed. Ellie informed her oldest brother that she had made good progress and she would probably be discharged soon. Just as Don went to say she could stay with him, his phone rang. It was their mother - Carmella. She spoke to Ellie for a while before telling Don that the flight had been cancelled due to the weather in New York.  
"Look, if Ellie is on the mend, we'll book another flight in a few days when the weather clears up and be there soon." Carmella said before she told Don she loved him and they hung up.  
"Mom and Dad are coming up to see you as soon as they can."  
Ellie gave a nod.  
"Donnie, what happened? I'm not even sure why I'm here." Ellie's eyes were welled with tears and her hand shook under Don's touch.  
"Don't worry about that for now, we can have a talk once you're good and ready." he said, knowing all too well, that someone would be by in no time to take a witness statement.  
  
A few hours of checks and tests and examinations later and Ellie was declared ready to go home. She had been given antibiotics to stave off a throat infection but otherwise the treatment was just to stay warm and hydrated.  
"Finish the course Miss Flack, its not such a serious cold but with the trauma your system went through it could always get worse and we don't want to see you back here any time soon!" Dr Banks gave a broad grin and bade Don and Ellie goodbye before leaving the room.  
"She's great, isn't she?" Ellie smiled and rose from her bed to go get dressed. A few moments later and she was dressed in jeans and a t shirt Don had brought to her along with her spare glasses and various winter garments. He piled layers onto her, he wasn't taking any risks with the cold.  
"Look, your place is still a mess, its got to be available for further searches and well frankly, I wouldn't want you back there alone. So you're coming to stay at mines for the time being - I'll take the sofa."  
Ellie hugged her brother's arm and he placed a light kiss on her head. As they got into Flack's unmarked police car, his phone vibrated loudly on the dash. It was a text message from Mac requesting that he come to the lab as they had some developments.  
"You mind if we jump in there first, before we pick up some dinner?"  
"Not at all. I'd like to know...who..." Ellie couldn't continue. It had only really hit her that one of her best friends from college and her other room mate were dead.  
"Frankie and Crystal are really gone..." she murmured as the car pulled away from pavement.  
  
On arriving at the crime lab, Mac took Flack into the layout room and asked Ellie to wait outside. Just as she found herself a seat, Danny came round the corner. The sudden urge to run and hug Ellie came over him, but something held him back. He was so glad she was okay, but were they close enough for him to do that? He was saved the bother of deciding what to do as Ellie rose quickly and kissed him on the cheek. Her hand remained on his arm.  
"Thank you. I hear you saved my life yesterday."  
Danny could feel a glow coming to his face.  
  
 _"You totally saved my butt the other night, getting me home. I cannot thank you enough. I was so wrecked. If I'd have stayed at that party Don would have caught me and quite possibly killed me!" Ellie giggled and wiped the lip gloss mark from Danny's cheek.  
"Uh..no problem." he finally spat out. _  
  
Danny swallowed hard as he sat down next to Ellie.  
"Listen Ellie, whatever happens in all of this, I'm here for you."  
Ellie, oblivious to what Danny had meant by that statement, merely smiled and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. Meanwhile Mac was telling Don what they had found when the blood samples finally made it back from DNA.  
"The blood we found in the stairwell was Crystal's. The blood on Ellie's body, that is under her finger nails and on her face also belonged to Crystal. We reckon the murder weapon came from this set of kitchen knives." Mac pushed a photograph of the wooden block across the table, one of the larger knives was missing. Something flashed in Flack's bright blue eyes.  
"Mac, are you saying my sister is involved in this?"  
"I'm sending Hawkes to go search Ellie's room again and Danny is going to do a perimeter search to see if we can't find the murder weapon." Flack remained silent. He had panicked at first, even worried. Now there was anger bubbling just under the surface. As he went to get up Mac pulled him back down.  
"Stella is on her way to question her. She's more likely to be open with someone she doesn't know."


	6. Chapter 6

A few moments later, Flack found himself and Mac behind the one way mirror in the room adjacent to the interview room and stood staring at his sister. He could tell she was nervous. She always chewed her bottom lip when she was nervous.  
"I know it can be a little intimidating being in this room, but its just want to make sure this interview is secure and well recorded."  
Ellie mustered up a smile - she wasn't looking forward to this at all. She didn't want to have to think about her friends and she certainly wasn't entirely sure what had gone on the previous morning.  
"Okay, lets start with the night before last. Do you remember anything unusual occurring?" Stella had opened a notepad.  
"Uh, Frankie didn't come home until the morning. I heard her calling out to see if me and Crys were in. Its not super unusual but she normally tells me where she's going. Its happened a few times in the last month or so. To be honest, I just think she's seeing someone. She can be quite guarded about things like that. At least til she knows its official."  
"Do you know this person's name?"  
"No, like I said, I wasn't even sure if that was the case. It could have just been late night studying or she was clubbing."  
"Studying or clubbing? Interesting mix."  
Ellie smirked a little.  
"I know. We all have assessments coming up. Frankie had exams and no matter how hard she studied she could always fit a couple of nights out a week."  
Stella gave a small smile; recalling her own college days that seemed like only yesterday. Maybe a mixture of last minute studying and getting drunk wasn't so strange after all.  
"Okay, lets move on to the morning. Can you remember when you got up?"  
Ellie glanced up at the mirror. She knew full well there was someone behind there. Maybe even her own brother. Or Danny. Either way she wanted nothing more to get back to Don and hold onto him. Having to recount what little she could remember about her friends' deaths was not the most pleasant experience of Ellie's life.  
"Um, I didn't have classes until 11.30. I was up just after 9 and I decided to run a bath."  
Stella looked at Ellie with an expectant gaze, though what she was expecting, Ellie wasn't sure.  
"While I was in the bathroom I thought I heard what sounded like Frankie and Crystal arguing, after that, there's no more."  
Just as Stella went to speak again, there was a knock at the door. Sheldon was peering through the glass and beckoned Stella outside.  
"Excuse me for just a second,"  
  
A few minutes later Stella came back into the room accompanied by the man Ellie had seen at the door.  
"Ellie this is Sheldon Hawkes, he's part of our team here at CSI." Stella paused whilst Sheldon reached over the table and shook Ellie's hand.  
"Nice to finally meet you." he said with a smile. "Okay, I've joined Stella because I'm not long back from searching your room." He took a deep breath before continuing. "We found Valium on your bedside cabinet, but no record of a prescription, as well as a baggy with pills that we believe to be a form of date rape in the kitchen."  
"We know from your blood that you've had both in your system very recently." Stella pushed the relevant papers across the table to Ellie.  
Ellie gave a sigh.  
"The Valium...I've been taking for a couple of weeks. It helps me sleep what with the stress of my final project. A guy in my block knows some guy, that’s where I got them."  
The two CSIs exchanged a glance before Sheldon spoke again.  
"What about the other drugs? People have been known to take a small portion of the pill or to dilute them in a lot of water for similar reasons to the Valium. Were you taking those to escape the pressures as well?"  
"No, I have no idea how something like that could have even got into the apartment never mind my body."  
Stella really had no choice but to end the interview. They had no other paths to go down regarding interviewing Ellie and she decided to go back and work on the option that the girls were indeed attacked and someone drugged her, leaving vital evidence behind.  
  
Sheldon and Stella showed Ellie to a waiting area before finding Mac and Don to discuss the interview.  
"Okay, Ellie's theory on a boyfriend could be true - we did find 3 semen samples in Frankie's bed. The two that matched were the most fresh so to speak. We've had no hits in CODIS..." Stella tailed off as she could see Flack jigging his foot rapidly.  
"What about the drugs?" he asked quietly.  
"Well, the GHB would have had an amnesic affect on her. Very rarely do young women who have been raped when they were drugged remember the actual attack."  
Flack's mind was spinning. Had is own sister really been taking drugs? And what was the deal with the date rape, could she have taken it to forget what she did to her friends? Not two weeks ago Ellie had been complaining about both of her housemates.  
"Okay, so we hold her with this proof that..."  
"Proof, Don?" Mac interrupted loudly. " All we've managed to prove so far is that she's been taking drugs, that doesn't mean she killed her room mates!"  
Flack shot him an angry look at him and stormed from the room.  
  
Just down the corridor Ellie was feeling rather sheepish around Danny. He knew about the Valium and she felt like a bit of a failure for turning to ill-gotten anxiety medication to deal with the stress she was under with her course. But it was cheaper and more efficient than going to a doctor.   
"It made sense at the time."  
Danny smiled a little at Ellie's lowered gaze. He'd always had an admiration for her because she had achieved so much despite not doing so great in high school and coming from what was quite a poor family.  
"Hey, we all have times like these. But its what makes us human."  
Ellie looked up. "You don't think I would take date rape, do you?"  
"If you say you didn't, then I believe you didn't. I trust you. But we have to take this seriously and...” Before Danny could finish, Flack had arrived, grabbed Ellie by the upper arm, pulled her to her feet and was dragging her down the corridor.  
"Donnie! You're hurting me! Stop!"  
Once they had gotten to a quiet area Flack stopped and let his sister go.  
"You've been taking drugs. Illegal and illegally acquired prescription drugs." he spat out. "And been doing...god-knows-what-else!"  
"What do you mean, I don't understand?" Ellie replied.  
"How could you even think about doing something so stupid? Its embarrassing!"  
Ellie could feel a lump building in her throat.  
"You don't believe me? I'm you sister Don, why wouldn't you believe me?"  
"Because in my line of work, we learn to follow the evidence. And I got news for you _Fiorella_ , the evidence against you is starting to look kinda good." With one sharp prod to Ellie's shoulder, Flack disappeared through a set of double doors.  
  
A few moments passed before Ellie realised what had just happened. She heard quick foot steps behind her and glanced round to see Danny striding down the corridor.  
"What happened there?"  
"He seems a tad angry. I can kinda see his point, I mean there are two girls dead but...but..."  
Danny reached out to Ellie and pulled her towards him.  
"I got ya." he whispered as he felt her grip tighten on his jumper at his waist. As he held her close he felt her tremble slightly.  
"That’s just Don for you, he's stubborn as a mule." added Danny with a small chuckle, trying to make sure Ellie didn't burst into tears.  
"Could I borrow your phone?" Ellie pulled away from Danny, her brow furrowed. "I have to call one of my other friends from school, see if she can't put me up on her dorm floor for the night."  
Danny reached into his back pocket before putting his phone back.  
"You can stay with me, I’ve got plenty of space and its just a short train ride away."  
"No, I really couldn't impose on you."  
"You wouldn't be imposing at all."  
Ellie gave a sigh. "I really don't think I have anywhere to go now after that...with Don."  
There was a long moment of silence between them before Danny spoke.  
"Look, is it okay that I need to know you're safe? You can crash at mines for a few nights at least til your place is sorted."  
Ellie practically simpered in response to Danny standing with his hands stuffed in his jean pockets with a wide-eyed, expectant look on his face.  
"Alright, I'll stay for a couple of nights until I get somewhere else."  
"Good." he replied.  
As they turned and headed for the lift, Ellie was secretly thankful he had asked. Danny was the first person in a long time to make her feel so safe other than her brother.  
  



	7. Chapter 7

"I'm gonna check my mail, go on up and let yourself in." Danny said as he tossed his keys to Ellie. She climbed the concrete stairs to the first floor. She remembered from the time a few months ago she had been there with Don to drop off Danny's 30th birthday present. She sighed as she recalled having to miss the party as it was also her father's birthday and she and her siblings were going to celebrate with him in Florida. As Ellie got to apartment number 5, she wiped the snow off her boots on the rug and unlocked the door. As she stepped inside a small, light brown, scruffy dog ran up to her and jumped up against her lower legs.  
"Oh, hello!" she said, a little surprised. "What's your name little guy?" Ellie asked as she bent to scratch his ear. "You are just adorable!"  
Danny heard this as he reached the top of the stairs and smiled; wondering what he'd done now to deserve such name calling. However as this was followed by a small bark his smile broadened..  
As Danny got to the door Ellie was holding the little mongrel in her arms and was baby talking to him.  
"I didn't know you had a doggie, Danny!"  
"Oh, thats Indiana or Indy for short."  
Ellie raised and eyebrow. “You named the dog Indy?” She smirked and held Indy’s face close to hers.  
“Yeah, I did. But now is not the time to discuss my childhood obsession with The Last Crusade. We’ve got food to order.”

A few hours later and the coffee table was strewn with Chinese food boxes and the TV was on in the background. It was some random shopping channel but neither Danny or Ellie seemed to care as bottle and a half of wine so far between them had relaxed them into a steady conversation. They had been discussing Don's outburst at Ellie.  
"So, I heard him call you Fio, Fio...what?"  
Ellie almost snorted her drink out of her nose at the strained expression on Danny's face, like he was trying to work out some huge mathematical problem.  
"Fiorella." she finished for him. "It was my great-grandmother's name. See my mother's side of the family are Italian and my dad's side are Irish. Mom demanded that she get to call the kids 'good strong Italian names', but dad got in there first with Donald, after himself. Next came Carmine, then Joel and finally me. I get stuck with the crappy Italian name unlike Carmine. Fuckin' Fiorella! I mean what the hell? I hated it so much as a kid that Carmine and Donnie started calling me Ella and soon evolved into Ellie. Now the only people who use my Sunday name are my mother and grandma Maria.'  
Ellie was smirking over the top of her glass at Danny who was chuckling to himself. This wasn't the first time he'd seen her glance across the top of a glass like that. In fact the first time they laid eyes on each other, she was doing the exact same thing.  
  
 _Danny accepted a champagne_ _flute_ _from a waiter as he arrived in the_ _large, brightly lit lobby_ _. It was his first annual police department ball and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He was fairly new in the crime lab and these high class functions were not really his thing. Plus his tuxedo was rather uncomfortable. Before he could be tempted to run back out the way he'd come in, a bright pink dress caught his eye. It had short capped sleeves and it clung tightly to the very fair skinned young woman wearing it. She was standing in the middle of the floor, a large space to herself.  
"Boom." Danny muttered under his breath.  
The object of all of Danny's attention pivoted slightly on her high, black __platform heels_ _as if scanning the room for someone. There was an over-sized martini glass in her hand. As she came to face Danny, she raised the glass to her mouth and all he could see were her green eyes. They seemed to smile at him and he approached her slowly.  
"Miss, you look a little lost..."  
The dark haired woman gave a sigh. "I am...totally. I'm looking for my __lovely_ _brother_ _who decided to abandon me_ _. You wouldn't happen to know him by any chance?"  
"Well who's your brother and I might be able to help you? Wait, hold on - let me try guess!"  
The young woman giggled lightly. "Alright..."  
"Okay, is he a cop or maybe a lowly CSI like myself?"  
"He's not long been promoted to a detective."  
As soon as the words were barely out of her mouth, Danny put two and two together. There was no mistaking that accent or her smile.  
"This is gonna sound..._ _incredibly creepy_ _of me, but its the eyes and that smile...they remind me of Don Flack."  
The girl gave a laugh in disbelief. "Yeah, he's my big brother!"  
Danny laughed too. "He's a great dude, one of my good friends from work." Just then, Don appeared and beckoned Ellie to come join him at his table.  
"Speak of the devil..." she muttered. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you...uh..." she reached out to shake his hand.  
"Danny, Danny Messer." he replied, taking her hand and shaking it.  
"I'm Ellie." she smiled and strode off._

After at least half an hour of arguing about who was taking the sofa Ellie found herself snuggled under Danny's white bed sheets. He had given her a t-shirt and shorts to sleep in. She listened as she heard the toilet flush, then the water come on and trickle down the pipes. A few moments later Danny emerged, wiping toothpaste from the corners of his mouth. Ellie watched, noticing all he had on were his white boxers, as he dug into a drawer and pulled out a pair of jogging bottoms.  
"You better not be peeking at me getting changed."  
Ellie gave a giggle. "Of course not." she added sitting up and checking him out in an over exaggerated manner. Danny grinned and took his time getting into the grey sweatpants.  
"Okay, I'm not in work til 12 tomorrow. Hopefully by the morning this mess will all be cleared up." He found himself tucking Ellie in and turned off the bedside light as she yawned loudly.  
"Good night." she said. "And thanks. Thank you so much."  
Danny turned and rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare get all grateful on me. People who care about each other do these things without question or need for thanks, right?" Danny said in an almost offhand fashion. The sudden urge to cry washed over Ellie, but she swallowed her tears; Danny had work in a few hours and she couldn't keep him up any later.  
"Right?" he repeated. He would lean on the door frame with his arms folded all night if that was how long it took her to agree.  
Ellie sighed deeply. "Right..." she said reluctantly.  
"Good." Danny stood up right and wandered from the room. "Night!" he called as he turned the living room light off.  
"Sweet dreams!"  
Across town, Don Flack was certainly not having sweet dreams. He'd been sitting in the dark in his arm chair for hours, his leg jigging off and on. His hand rubbed firmly at his forehead as he felt sleep finally taking a grip of him. What had Ellie done?  
"Family always comes first, Donnie." Don repeated his father's words in his head. His first instinct had been to protect his only sister, but justice was in his blood. He was the 3rd generation of NYPD detectives in his family and other various relatives had been patrol cops, lawyers, prison wardens. You name it the Flacks had done it. And if Ellie really had committed as serious a crime as he suspected, she would be punished. How could she have been so stupid? She was full of potential, creativity and talent and she had a future ahead of her. Did Ellie really have it in her to kill? With a shiver, he got up out of his seat before flopping into bed fully clothed.


	8. Chapter 8

The winter sun was just breaking the horizon when Ellie woke with a start. It could have been her dry throat or maybe the pounding in her head from too much wine combined with not enough sleep. But what was predominant in Ellie's mind was the horrific dream she had just snapped out of. Details of the morning before the last had come flooding back.  
  
Blood. Death. Nausea. Panic.  
  
Her tongue kept sticking to the roof of her mouth, making her gag.  
"I need a drink." she said inwardly as she threw the covers off of her shaking body and got up, stepping over Indy who was curled up on the rug. Ellie's bare feet padded silently across the wooden floor, her intended destination the fridge to get water. She slowed as she got to the sofa, she could hear Danny still snoring. He was lying on his back, one arm behind his head the other hanging off the side of the couch, touching the floor. Ellie smiled a little at his wide open mouth as she noticed he was drooling onto the cushion under his head. But as Ellie looked forward to the kitchenette she saw the cloth they had used to mop up spilt wine. It was stained deep red and the grisly images she had recalled flashed through her mind again. She knew she had to tell someone. Danny had already been so wonderful to her, she didn't want to even waken him - never mind burden him with what she had remembered. Don was not an option. Her only other ally was Stella. Should she just get ready now and go to the precinct? From Danny's apartment she wasn't really sure how to get there.  
"Just call her." Ellie thought and she went in search of Danny's phone. It was on the coffee table and she scrolled through the contact list until Stella's number was highlighted. She pressed the call button and took a deep breath. It rang it only twice.  
"Hey Danny"  
"Uh, its not Danny. Its Ellie. Flack."  
Stella was more than a little surprised. She had glanced at the caller ID and was positive it read Danny.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, can I help you with something?" There was a long pause. "Ellie?"  
"I...I remembered more." Stella instantly pulled her phone away from her ear. She found the record function in the menu.  
"Okay, go on."  
Ellie took a deep breath in through her nose. The terrifying scene played over again as she closed her eyes to stop tears escaping.  
"It was like I dreamt it. But I know it wasn't just a dream, it was way too vivid. I know I was remembering. I saw Crys, she was just lying there, covered in blood. I must have gotten dizzy - I get squeamish around a lot of blood - because I know Frankie sat me down and handed me a glass of water. Next thing I know I'm in the bath and Danny was there. Then you. Then its all gone again until I woke up in the hospital."  
Little did Ellie know, that despite trying to be as quiet as possible, Danny had woken. He had heard everything. He rose from the sofa, wiping his chin as he moved, and walked quietly up behind Ellie where she stood leaning over the sink.  
"Okay, I'll make sure and call if anything else comes back to me. Bye." Ellie jumped out of her skin as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Danny looking at her solemnly.  
"Oh, I'm sorry! I just borrowed this for a few seconds, I wasn't on long." Ellie pushed the phone into Danny's hand.  
"Its not that I'm worried about, you're welcome to it when you need it. Are you alright? Something like that coming back to you can't be good."  
Ellie let out a sigh of relief. "Um, I'm not bad. Once I woke up and realised it was only a dream - so to speak - I calmed down. I remembered where I was...and...I felt safe again." she bit her lip and glanced up at Danny, who was now extremely close.  
"Okay! 8.45." Danny said, as he checked his watch and rubbed Ellie's arm. "I won't get back to sleep so how does sausage, eggs, maybe a little toast sound?"  
Ellie's stomach rumbled loudly right on cue. "Sounds about perfect." she said as they both laughed.  
  
After Danny had left for work and she had tidied the entire apartment, Ellie decided she'd make something for dinner to thank Danny for taking her in.  
"Cops." she thought as she rolled her eyes on finding that Danny barely had a morsel of food in his cupboards. All that was in the fridge after their breakfast was beer and out of date yoghurts alongside some condiments that looked like they’d been there a while. Deciding to do a bit of shopping, Ellie found her jeans and grabbed a red checkered shirt from her kind host's wardrobe. "That'll do." she muttered to herself as she pulled her curls back into a ponytail. In a few moments she had her coat and other winter attire on and was out the door. Before Ellie had even made it to the main door of the apartment block she gave a cry of "Shit!". She had left the spare key Danny had given her lying on the counter. There was only one thing for it. Go to the lab and hunt Danny down for his key. She wanted to have everything ready for him when his shift finished at 8 that evening and it was already close to 4 o'clock. Sighing deeply, Ellie headed for the subway station, trying to remember which stop to get off at.  
  
Moments earlier, Aiden and Adam had jumped out of their SUV and into the snow. They were just outside the crime scene and were on the trail of the murder weapon.  
"Why do I gotta wear these stupid overalls?" Adam shivered as his breath rose up in small clouds.  
"Cus you're the newbie to this working in the field thing. Besides, I did the last lot of dumpster diving." Aiden pulled a face, remembering the rotten food and rats she had encountered a few cases ago. "Okay, so Danny said the gravitational drops headed down this way and the janitor for the students' buildings found more blood further down the street."  
"Lets hurry up and get this over with."  
"Just keep your eyes open, if its been left behind, that knife has be around here."  
"Because, why would someone carry it so far in broad daylight?"  
Aiden smiled broadly. "You're catching on." Their search didn't last long, as Aiden shone her torch under a dumpster, a flash of silver was caught in its beam. "Hello..." she mumbled. "Adam! I need your services!"  
Adam was soon on his front and reached for what Aiden had pointed out.  
"Bingo." he said as he held up a very large and very bloody kitchen knife. "Black handles, just like the ones in the pictures."  
"Nice! Bag and tag, young man."  
  
Having gotten a little lost, Ellie finally arrived at the crime lab building. The lift seemed to take forever. She stepped out and up to the reception desk.  
"Hey Laura, I'm looking for Danny Messer." she said to the young man who smiled from his seat in front of the computer. She had come here many a time looking for her brother, but never once specifically for Danny.  
"Give me a sec, I'll page him." he pressed a few buttons on the switchboard. "That should be him on his way." Ellie went to thank Laura, but before she could speak she heard her name being bellowed from behind her.  
"I've been trying to call you for almost an hour!" Don had grabbed Ellie's arm again and was pulling her with him. "This way, I have to speak to you." He had a folder in his hand.  
"What's going on?" The anger was gone from Don's voice as he smiled and greeted various people that they walked by. Ellie was now aware that she was following the same path she had the day before. The path to the interrogation room. Just then Danny arrived at the front desk.  
"Yo, Laura! You paged me saying I had a visitor."  
"Yeah, Ellie is it? Detective Flack took her down that-a-way, I guess they were going next d..." Danny was already gone.  
"You've got some explaining to do." Don said as he locked the door and made Ellie sit down. "We found the weapon we suspect was used to kill Crystal. Its being compared to wound tracts as we speak."  
"Where?"  
"Well you should know." he said, rolling the sleeves of his pin striped shirt up to the elbow. Ellie narrowed her eyes. "How exactly? I've told you already, I had nothing to do with this."  
"We got your prints on the knife, oh and the small matter of Crystal's blood!"  
"That’s my knife! Mom and Dad bought them for me. You know what Mom is like - 'You can't make good food without a good set of knives'!" Ellie retorted.  
"Less than two weeks ago you were whining about how much Crystal annoyed you! That she was a messy freshman; always borrowing things and not replacing them and having parties and playing music to all hours. And this made you angry at Frankie, who was your best friend, because she was the one who moved Crystal in without consulting you first!"  
Ellie could feel tears brimming up. "It had all changed. I sat down with Crys and Frankie and we sorted out who would do what chores and..." she tailed off, having to swallow hard.  
"Everything points to you so far and unfortunately neither of the two of them are around to corroborate your..." Don was cut short by a bang on the door.  
"Don! Let me in, you know you shouldn't be doing this!" Mac was rattling the handle, but Flack ignored him. He slammed the two autopsy photos on the desk in front of Ellie.  
"Those two girls are gone and I think it was your fault. I don’t know if you were high or what, but..."  
Ellie shook her head as she was overcome by tears. Crystal's white face looked ghostly as Flack continued to rant whilst pacing the room. As she glanced at the next photo, her breath caught in her throat.  
"Don...Donnie...Please, listen to me!"  
He stopped abruptly and leaned both of his hands on the table. "What is it _Fiorella_?" He spat at her, pressing whatever buttons he could. "Take a good look at Crystal and Frankie cus..."  
"Don...This isn't Frankie..." 


	9. Chapter 9

"Bullshit."  
"No I swear! She's got mousy brown hair and she's a girl but that’s the only resemblance." Through the severe bruising on her face, Ellie could see that the person in the photograph was not her friend.  
"Frances Montgomery's parents are struggling to get in from Pennsylvania to identify their daughter’s body, you better not be messing around."  
Ellie was saved from calling her brother every name under the sun for thinking she'd be that cruel as the lock behind her clicked and the door flew open.  
"Chief Gerrard just got here wanting to know how his friend Detective Flack is doing, go back to your desk before he finds a reason to suspend you!" Mac hissed at Don. Danny was lifting Ellie out of her chair.  
"Come on, let me get you out of here." It was a move to help both siblings. Ellie was clearly upset and despite Don's accusations, the quicker they got them both out of the room, the better. Danny knew all too well how the police chief would react to this situation. The CSIs had had enough conflicts with the police hierarchy for him to come down on them, and Flack, like a ton of bricks. Don was soon at his untidy desk, his arms folded over his chest and a foul look on his face. Seconds later Gerrard appeared.  
"Afternoon Don." he said rather loudly, completely ignoring Mac and Danny. "Oh, and Ellie! Its been too long, sweetheart." he sidled up close to her and smiled down at her, with a firm squeeze to her arm.  
"Yeah." she replied and forced a smile before doing a button up on her black wool coat. Ellie was grateful when Danny shifted a little closer to her. She felt his chest make contact with her shoulder and could only presume he had a scowl on his face as Gerrard narrowed his eyes in his direction and finally let his grip on her go.  
"Lets, uh...talk over here Sir." Don said to his chief and took him to the side. "Slimy as always." he thought as he led him away from his sister. Mac sat Ellie down in Flack's seat as soon as they were out of earshot.  
"Are you absolutely, 100 percent sure this is not Frankie?" he asked holding the photo in his hand. He was crouched in front of Ellie and gazed up at her, his grey eyes boring into her very core.  
"Human lie detector." Danny said to himself, watching his boss work with Ellie the way he always did with suspects. But there was a more gentle tone to his voice. Danny couldn't quite tell, but he had the impression Mac believed Ellie too when she said she didn't harm her friends.  
"I'm positive." Ellie suddenly became distant, but still stared, unblinking into Mac's eyes. "Who is this girl? Where's Frankie?"  
"Danny, go speak to Stella and get her to contact Mr and Mrs Montgomery right now. We have to tell them that we have a case of mistaken identity and that their daughter is missing. You and Hawkes get on tracking down who this person is."  
"If looks could kill." Danny muttered as Gerrard threw Ellie a dirty look. "I guess he's explained the story so far." his hand found its way to the base of Ellie’s neck and he gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be back as soon as I get everyone else up to date."  
  
As Ellie waited in the hallway of the station, she glanced at the middle aged woman across from her in a dark uniform who she presumed was the receptionist. She typed away loudly at the keyboard in front of her. A pay phone came into Ellie’s line of sight as she shifted her gaze. She hadn't spoken to Carmine or Joel in all the confusion. Rising from her seat, Ellie dug out some quarters and made for the phone. As much as she wanted to talk to her youngest brother, she couldn't. He had finished law school at the summer and had decided to go travelling 'before growing up'. Last time they had spoken was at Christmas when he called her from somewhere in Thailand. So she dialed Carmine's number. He had been married for 5 years and was now living in California with his wife Rosa and Molly, their 4 year old daughter. She smiled wondering if anyone had picked up any of Carmine's scripts yet. He worked as a TV writer, but longed for his own ideas to be made into films.  
"Flack residence!" a young voice said.  
"Hey, Mollypop!" Ellie couldn't help but giggle at her nieces new way of answering the phone. "It's Ellie, can I speak to your daddy please?" a screech of "DADDYYY!" was no doubt heard by half of Pasadena and New York, before Carmine answered promptly.  
"Hey, its me."  
"Ellie, thank god! The last thing Donnie told me was that you were unconscious in hospital. I've been trying to call both of you."  
"My cell is still in the apartment. Don...he's probably just a little preoccupied with the whole investigation."  
"What happened sis?"  
"Its complicated and I'm short on change." Ellie lied, she didn't want to have to explain anything to Carmine right now. "I just wanted to hear your voice and let you know I’m alright. Pass on my love to Rosa and if Joel calls, let him know everything is okay." The siblings said their goodbyes and Ellie hung up. She wanted nothing more than all of her family around her. But what if they took Don's side? Keeping them in the dark for as long as possible was most likely the best idea. With a deep sigh, Ellie went back to her uncomfortable, plastic seat.  
  
There was quite an uproar as Stella and Danny led Ellie from the building just after 8pm.  
"Detective Bonasera, I believe this young woman is a suspect in a double homicide investigation, you cannot release her!" Gerrard had done a complete u-turn on his attitude towards Ellie.  
"With all due respect, Chief..." There wasn't even a hint of respect in Stella's voice. "The evidence is all circumstantial, we have nothing concrete. As much as I love to close a case, I won't do so unless I have substantial evidence that will stand up in court."  
Gerrard pursed his lips and blew a deep breath from his nose. It had already got to the press that a detective's sister was involved in a murder, if she was let go it would look like she was getting off lightly because she was related to a member of the police force.  
"If you lose this suspect, I'll have both your badges!" Gerrard spat out, pointing a finger at the two CSIs.  
"I'm not going anywhere, not until my friend is found."  
Gerrard's glare snapped to Ellie. "I'm sure when we find her, we'll have what we need to put you away."  
"Come on Ellie, lets go." Danny rested his hand on the small of Ellie's back and guided her out of the door.  
"I'm sorry Danny." Ellie said after a few minutes of companionable silence as they walked down the wet and gritty pavement. "I meant to get in food to make us dinner, but I let the door close before I picked up the key and I wanted to get your key from so you it'd be ready, but he got to me first and..."  
"Hey, hey...easy." Danny had stopped Ellie. "That was a really sweet idea but what's say I take you out for something? Take your mind off all this shit with Don and Gerrard."  
"Alright, but at least let me pay my own way."  
"Nuh-uh! Its either me buying or we go home and starve!" Danny replied and threw his arm around Ellie's shoulders making her have to walk faster to keep up with Danny's strides.  
  
After filling up on some sushi in Danny’s neighbourhood, he and Ellie walked home, passing an apartment block that was still covered in Christmas decorations. As she watched the bright lights dance across the lenses of Danny's glasses, she recalled Frankie noticing the same thing on her own glasses one drunken night, only a few weeks ago. Without warning a loud sob racked her entire body. Danny's pleasant smile vanished in an instant as Ellie took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She couldn't cry right here in the middle of the street. Where was Frankie? Did she have something to do with this or did she know what had happened? Was she even still alive? The evidence was building up against Ellie and even though she could hardly remember a thing, she was adamant that she did not hurt anyone.  
"Please, you gotta clear this up. I can't go on with Donnie hating me." A tear trickled down Ellie's left cheek and slid onto her upper lip.  
"I don't think he hates you, I mean...its you." Danny reached out and put his arms loosely round Ellie's shoulders. He kept her at a small distance to maintain his eye contact. "You're a good person and I'm more than sure you didn't do anything to harm your friends."  
Ellie was looking at her feet as she dried off her face.  
"I'm glad there's still someone around here who believes me." she said, playing with a button on Danny's coat. He lifted her chin and she gazed up at him with her eyes shining. Before Danny could convince himself that he shouldn't act on his impulses, his nose was touching Ellie's and he gently pressed his lips against hers. Ellie's breath rushed from her as she felt Danny's hand skim her jaw line and come to rest in the hair at the top of her neck. His kiss lingered for a few moments before he moved away and left Ellie still lost in his extremely pleasant scent. She eased open her eyes.  
"What was that for?"  
Danny twisted a strand of Ellie’s hair in his fingers.  
"I told you already I care about you. And...well...you are kinda hot.' he grinned broadly and Ellie giggled lightly.“Only kinda?!”She wrapped her arms around his middle as she snuggled into his chest. As he rested his chin on Ellie's head, a renewed sense of determination filled Danny, he was going to go back to the crime scene one last time before it was released to clean-up and find something that would clear Ellie's name.


	10. Chapter 10

By the time they made it back to Danny's apartment, Ellie was drained. Emotionally and physically. It was now after 1am but Danny had planned to get Ellie home and head for work. He knew Stella and Hawkes were on the night shift and Mac would no doubt still be hanging around. Thinking about helping Ellie, cast his mind back to just a couple hours before when he took his chance and kissed her. As he ignited the gas under the kettle for Ellie's tea he gave a sigh. Was it really fair on both of them for him to have done that? His best friend and colleagues sister who was embroiled in a murder investigation he was working on. A potential conflict of interest and she was in a vulnerable postion. But he had never been more sure of someone’s innocence, even if he was emotionally involved. And it wasn't as if Ellie was someone he had just met. Many a time he had caught himself thinking about her. Imagining what her skin felt like and wondering what brand her sweet perfume was. Even sometimes trying to think up stupid excuses to see her.  
Ellie perched herself on Danny’s pool table and could see his inner turmoil displayed on his face. He never was good at poker. Smiling a little she asked what was wrong.  
“Its just this whole thing. Maybe I shouldn't have kissed you, it wasn’t fair.”

“Listen here, Messer. I’m not some swooning damsel you took advantage of. You’d have known all about it, if I hadn’t wanted that. I grew up with three brothers, I’ve got a mean left hook.” she winked, making Danny's face finally split into a smile.  
"I'm gonna kiss you again, okay?" he said, still grinning. Ellie's cheeks flushed. It had been a while since anyone had asked her anything like that. Mind you there hadn't been anyone she wanted to ask her that. Except maybe Danny. She had always thought he was cute. And as she got to know him, his intelligence had surprised her. His cheeky demeanour and street smarts definitely didn’t give the impression he was a chemistry geek, but she enjoyed the contradiction. Danny didn't wait for an answer before he pushed himself in between Ellie's legs, making her slide back onto the green felt of the pool table. She giggled as his hands slid round her waist and he placed several quick kisses on her lips. Danny leaned back slightly and merely looked into Ellie's eyes. She bit her lip. She might be falling for her brother's friend and it was weird. Good weird though. As if it had been waiting for the opportune moment to interrupt, the kettle started whistling, letting them know that the water was boiled. Danny rolled his eyes and went to lift it off of the heat.  
"Go on into bed and I'll bring it in." Danny said as he dropped a tea bag into a big mug. "You want a cookie?"  
Ellie nodded enthusiastically and made her way into the bedroom.  
  
It didn't take Ellie long to devour the tea and the cookie and she was soon yawning. Danny lay on top of the bed covers, stroking her hair. As soon as he was sure she was asleep, Danny careful slid her glasses off and put them on the bedside cabinet. After looking at Ellie one last time Danny shifted carefully off the bed. He grabbed what he needed and scribbled down a note telling Ellie where he had gone and to call if she needed anything. He stuck the note on the fridge, hoping she'd notice it there. He pulled on his black, leather boots and stepped out into the cold hallway before closing the door quietly behind him.  
  
Stella gave a loud yawn and stretched. Hawkes smirked at her as she rubbed her eyes.  
"I think we're in for a long night.' she muttered. In all her years in the police force Stella had come across some strange and puzzling scenarios, but recently things seemed to have been easy for her and the team. Evidence practically left out on a silver platter for them, suspects crumbling quickly under Mac or Don's questioning. But this latest case had her well and truly stumped.  
"Lets run through our options together." Hawkes said, seeing the frustration on his colleague's face.  
"Mind if I join you?" Mac had appeared in the layout room. He held 3 paper cups of coffee between his hands.  
"Perfect timing as always Mac." Hawkes gratefully accepted the cup his boss held out to him. Mac smiled in reply and walked around the large table that was hidden under a mass of photographs and paperwork, passing a cup to Stella on his way. He took a sip from his own coffee before finding a tiny space to put it down. "So, where are we with this?"  
"Okay..." Sheldon took a deep breath. "If we start at the beginning, we have Ellie unconscious in the tub. Explanation for that: the drugs she had in her system coupled with the temperature of the room. Crystal and the unknown female, well we know how they were killed, we just don't have the why. Which is what is making it so difficult to find a conclusion. We have no proper motive as to why Ellie would want to kill them. From what Flack and Danny tell us, she's pretty laid back despite the issues she’d had previously with her roomates."  
"Any progress on finding out anymore about Frankie?"  
"Aiden and I spoke to her parents, they haven't had contact with her in over a week. They can't think where she'd be or who would want to hurt her." Stella said and let out a long sigh.  
Mac surveyed the table once more, his eyes intense as if begging the photographs to tell him something new.  
"There's somebody missing from this picture."  
"I don't know, Mac. I kinda hate to admit it but I think Ellie still looks good for this, the evidence is there, its just a tad...indirect." Hawkes said, with a small shrug.  
"Even if I truly believed that Ellie was responsible for these crimes, the evidence we have is not enough. The DA wouldn't give us the time of day without something solid." All three criminalists looked towards the glass door as they heard a gentle tapping. Danny entered the room.  
"Evening." he said, flashing a grin. "Mac, has Ellie's place been cleared yet?"  
"The apartment has been cleared of blood and such, but the full clean up is yet to happen."  
"Good, cus I need to get back down there. I have to make sure we didn't miss anything.' Stella looked up from the computer she was on, one eyebrow raised. "Nothing against you Stell; I know how thorough you are. It's just for my own peace of mind."  
There were a few moments of silence. Danny screwed up his face, convinced Mac would tell him no.  
"Alright, get the key from next door. Make it a swift search, it's already 3.15 and the clean up crew are expecting to be able to finish the job at 7am."  
"Don't worry, boss. I'll be outta there."  
  
Danny borrowed an SUV and after getting stuck in traffic for half an hour he finally made it to the student block. Despite it being Friday morning, a lot of lights were still on and televisions and stereos were blaring. He pushed open the main door, thinking that if there had been a security entrance that was standard in most new builds or conversions, that maybe this whole mess might not have occurred. He was soon upstairs, cutting the police tape, that had been used to seal the apartment, with the scalpel from his kit. As he pushed open the blue door, the pungent odour of disinfectant hit his nostrils. He shone his torch around the cold living room. Crystal's blood had been lifted, but there was still a dark stain on the carpet with a distinct torso-shaped void in it. Sighing, Danny pressed on with his search, turning on the lights as he went on his way to the bathroom. From there, he progressed to the smallest bedroom where Frankie slept. It was tidy to the point of obsession. Everything had its place, shown by the bright stickers that proclaimed things like 'PENCILS' or 'SOCKS' on various boxes and drawers. Crystal's room on the other hand was a complete tip. He found nothing of interest in either room.  
Across the other side of the living area, was Ellie's room. Her’s was somewhere in between her housemates, a little clutter but somewhat organised. He scoured it, but again, there was nothing that stood out. Getting frustrated, Danny closed her room door behind him and flopped down on the couch. He was about to give up and take his gloves off when he realised he hadn't looked under the cushions on the couch or the seats. He lifted them all carefully. He found nothing but a few quarters, nickels and dimes, the odd bead or jewel and a hell of a lot of lint and crumbs. As he passed his torch light around the room again the beam hit something that shone under the sofa. He got down on all fours and shone the torch under again. There was a smashed glass up against the skirting board, with debris around it. Danny pulled the sofa out from against the wall and discovered that the glass still had what looked like water in the biggest section of it. After snapping a photo, he lifted it carefully, swabbed the liquid and placed the glass in a plastic bag. There was a small smudge of blood on one of the shattered parts and Danny bagged that too. Danny's spirits had lifted hugely as he hurried down the stairs and headed back to the lab.


End file.
